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Dubious diet supplements big
business

17.07.2000 - By PHILIP ENGLISH

New Zealanders are swallowing up to
$145 million in nutritional supplements every year for little or
no benefit, says the author of a new report. The study in the New
Zealand Medical Journal calls for regulations on the sale and manufacture
of supplements. One of the authors, Murray Thomson, a senior lecturer
at the Otago School of Dentistry, said yesterday that the study
confirmed that "as a nation we are knocking back, swallowing, millions
of dollars worth of these things." But research was needed into
how well supplements, including multivitamins, minerals, herbal
remedies, garlic preparations and sports formulations, worked. "A
lot of stuff being sold and marketed out there is basically, as
far as we can tell, probably giving people very expensive urine
but maybe not much else."

The researchers studied the habits
of 978 26-year-olds who are part of a group of people born in Dunedin
taking part in a long-term behaviour study. They found that the
use of supplements was reasonably common but also said a "surprisingly
high" number had used them in the previous two weeks.

Twenty per cent of women and 13 per
cent of men used nutritional supplements. One in six had taken them
in the previous two weeks. Most research around the world has concentrated
on the habits of older people, although a 1997 New Zealand nutritional
survey reported that over 60 per cent of 19 to 24-year-olds had
taken vitamin or mineral supplements. In the latest research, women
consumed more iron, calcium and folate supplements. Of the small
number of pregnant females in the group, 35 per cent were taking
folate, important to foetal development and women's health and known
to prevent spina bifida in newborn babies. Of all the supplements,
men exceeded women in the use of only one category - sports formulations.

The study says herbal remedies and
other plant extracts were relatively widely used, probably due to
"popular perceptions" that they worked as alternatives to conventional
medical therapy, including for depression. Mr Thomson said there
was a potential for supplements to be used misguidedly, although
no one in the study group was "overdoing" things. Using Australian
figures on the use of supplements, the study estimated that New
Zealanders could be spending $145 million a year on all alternative
medicines or $84 million on pharmaceutical preparations. "In spite
of the large scale of the industry in this country, there is a paucity
of information about the use of nutrient supplements." It says more
research needs to be done on how well supplements work.

Most supplements are not covered by
the Medicines Act, which sets out regulations for labelling and
testing. The executive director of the National Nutritional Food
Association, Ron Law, said the study offered no basis for introducing
regulations. "There is no evidence at all in the study to validate
any discussion on regulation ... There is no evidence there that
products are not what they say they are. There is no evidence there
that the products are toxic. "There are about 1500 deaths in New
Zealand every year from properly used medical drugs, compared to
zero deaths from dietary supplements. I would ask the question:
Why the excitement?"